Machine for cleaning and separating cotton waste



(No Model.)

H. A: DAV-IS.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND SEPARATING COTTON WASTE, 5:0.

Patented M81222, 1887.

Zl/zh'zesses:

/rnm .7 avfuu my ilNITED STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

HENRY A. DAVIS, OF LOXVELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR CLEANlNG AND SEPARATING COTTON WASTE, 84c.

SPECIFICATION forming part; of Letters Patent No. 359,851, dated March22, 1887.

Application filed October 9, 1886.

To uZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY A. DAVIS, acitizen of the United States,residing at Lowell,in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMachines for Cleaning and Separating Cotton Waste and other FibrousMaterials, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the application of a revolving shaft near thebeater of a waste pickerin such a manner that pieces of yarn or threadwhich may be mixed with u'nspun fiber will become wound upon the saidshaft, and thereby be separated from the fiber, which is suitable topass to the carding process,and also to certain improvements in theconstruction of beaters for this class of machines, whereby heaters ofgreater strength and increased facilities for threads to become woundupon the shaft of the beater are secured.

Taken together, theseimprovements constitute an improved machine forseparating uns pun fibrous material from pieces of waste yarn or threadwhich are too hard twisted to be ad vantageously carded and respun.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan or top View of my improved machine.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation of partofone end of the inachine,showing the driving-pulley. Fig. 4 is a verticalcross-section of the part of the machine contai nin g the heaters andthread-cxtractin g shaft. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the heaters and thethread-extracting shaft removed from but lying in the same relativeposition as when in the machine; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of apiece broken from the middle of the thread extracting shaft.

A is the hinged covering or bonnet over the heaters, having a web orrim, a, which forms a trough to hold a supply of material, which is fedto the heaters through theinlet or feedingopening a.

B is the lower portion of the casing of the machine, to which the bonnetA is hinged by the hinges b I), and in which,below the heaters, isplaced the grid or screen bfiand below which there may be a dust-closet.An opening or spout, b, is provided for the exit or delivery of thecleaned fiber. These parts being prin- Scrial No. 215,766. (No model.)

cipally old and well known,I do not think a detailed description oftheir operation necessary.

0 is a shaft supported by and having its bearings in the brackets c cand c, and driven by p the pulley 0' The said shaft 0 is designed toassist in extracting broken bits of thread, and may be a plainshaft, orroughened by cutting a fine screwthread and one or more longitudinalgrooves, 0 as shown at Fig. 6.

In the heads of the bonnet A are slots (f, to allow the bonnet to belifted, and which are covered by the brackets c 0 when the cover is shutdown over the beater. It will readily be seen that the thread-extractingshaft 0 may be employed in combination with any other form of beater,scutcher, or toothed cylinder than that shown in the-drawings.

\Vhen cot-ton containing pieces of thread is thrown against the shaft 0by the beater, threads will be caught and wound upon the said shaft,while if bunches of cotton should adhere with the threads they will bequickly knocked off by the action of the heater or toothed cylinder, andby stopping the machine with which this deviceis connected the threadswhich have thus been picked from the cotton may be cut and stripped fromthe shaft. In operating the machine represented in the drawings themachine is stopped from time to time and the cover A turned back, andthe yarn which has become entangled upon the shaft 0,

and also that which has accumulated on the beater-shafts, is removed. 1)D designate the heaters, each consisting of a shaft with arms d d, projecting from the shaft in different radial directions and cast solidtherewith. preferred to arrangethe arms (Z din spiral lines on oppositesides of the shaft, as shownin the drawings, thereby rendering thestrain on the shafts whenin operation nearly uniform. Fanblades (1 (1"also project from the beater-shaft, and are preferably cast with thesame. It is not so essential, however, that the fan-blades should be ofthe same entire piece of metal as the rest of the beater.

The heaters run in suitable bearings, d and are driven by the pulleys(1* and (P, the dotted line 6 representing the belt which transmitspower to the said pulleys, and also to the pulley 0":

I have E represents an angle-piece, in construction 1863, reissue No.3,363, and No. 299,297, May

27, 1884,) or similar machine having heaters consisting of shafts uponwhich a series of radial arm castings are fastened by a hub and setscrew, or having the beater-shaft drilled and graduated radial armsinserted; and when operating the same itis necessary to occasionallystop the machine and cut or strip off from the beater-shafts the threadswhich have become wound thereon.

To enable the beater-shaft to catch and retain short threads,it mustnecessarily be small in diameter,and cannot be drilled for the insertionof radial arms of suitable strength without lessening the strength ofthe shaft, Radial-arm castings with hubs cover upa large part of thebeater-shaft which might otherwise be pre sented to the materialoperated upon.

By making the beater of a single piece of metalypreferably a steel orbronze casting, I am enabled to make the shaft small in' diameter, withradial arms projecting therefrom,

which do not weaken the shaft or materially obstruct its surface,therebysecuring a shatt better adapted to catch and retain threads thanhas heretofere been used, and it will therefore i be seen that theheaters cast entire are an iIIl-i' portant improvement even whenusedwithout the shaft 0 or the deflecting-plate E.

By the use of one or more plain revolving shafts located at a suitabledistance from the beater I am able to catch and extract from the a wasteoperated uponl threads which would otherwise be liable to pass throughthe machine without being picked out.

Having thus fully described my invention,-I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. In apicker or opener for fibrous materials,the combination, with a casing provided with feeding and deliveryopenings, of a rotary beater having radial arms cast solid with andprojecting from the opposite sides of the shaft of the said beater,substantially as herein described.

2. In a picker or opener for fibrous materials, thecombination, witlrarotary beater and its casing,of the shaft 0, revolving within the saidcasing near the periphery of the said beater, for the purpose herein setforth.

HENRY A. DAVIS.

\Vit messes:

GEORGE W. P001212, ALFRED G. LAMSON.

